Barbering has made a huge comeback but with an ultra-modern feel! The ‘short sides and back’ have been replaced by sculptured, precise fades and pompadours as well as skin fades and detailed hair tattoos. The talent seen in these modern barbershops is incredible! Men’s grooming is here to stay and Delmar’s goal is to make sure all Barbers are licensed. We have adapted our program for those wishing to become licensed barbers and have incorporated all aspects of barbering while still preparing these students for their government licensing exams. We will be highlighting the journey of some of our Barbering students to see what inspired them to become barbers and showcase their work.

We spoke to Mark Bautista. He is extremely passionate and talented as evidenced by his work on Instagram and his work has been reposted by Barbering sites!

What inspired you to become a barber and when did you realize this was your passion?

I come from an artistic background and have always been fascinated by style and fashion. While attending university, I started to become interested in hair especially as I watched barbers on YouTube do creative haircuts and share how much pride they took in honing and improving their craft each time they cut. I thought to myself: “I want to be just like these guys!” That’s when the aha moment came and I started practicing on all my family members and friends. I really enjoyed the social aspect of it and how much impact I was making by making someone look their best. The feeling of satisfaction that I got after each cut is when I realized that this was my passion.

What is your favourite service to receive and why?

A hot shave even though I have very little facial hair because its a relaxing escape from world and I feel like a king being pampered.

What is your favourite service to perform and why?

Medium length men’s haircuts because I get to work on building shape and texture through scissor work. I believe that the art in barbering lies in mastering your scissor work. Everything else will fall into place once you truly understand how to utilize your scissors.

What are some of your insights into Barbering trends?

One of the most prominent trends that I have observed in the barbering industry is we are slowly moving away from perfect polished super clean looks to more lived-in, versatile low maintenance looks. Men are more willing to rock longer and more natural textured looks.

Who are your favourite barbers on Instagram and what about them inspires you?

@stephenj.barber: He is my personal barber and he has been my biggest mentor so far. He has inspired me to investigate the “why” to everything I do in hair so I make sure that I am intentional in everything I do.

@andrewdoeshair: He has inspired me to take quality photographs of my haircuts. He has taught me how to use the proper lighting and camera to highlight and make my work stand out on Instagram.

@joshlamonaca: He is the co owner of one the most coveted men’s salon in the world- Menspire Salon. Josh has inspired me to really appreciate the classic and contemporary shapes and techniques of men’s barbering. He has taught me to always work in clean sections and focus on the fundamentals of haircutiing such tension, over direction, body position and so forth.

Describe your Delmar experience so far. What have you enjoyed the most and why?

What I have enjoyed most so far in my time at Delmar is all the friends I have made. I enjoy coming to school because I like hanging out with my classmates and teachers. It makes learning fun.

What are your future goals once you have finished school and achieved your license?

One of my biggest goals is to be able to be a platform educator and travel the world sharing my passion for hair.

What barbershop are you in what is your Instagram?

I will be apprenticing at Johnny’s Barbershop + Shop starting in April 2019. My Instagram is @markbarberology.

Delmar welcomes a new barbering/stylist program to the list! Starting this exciting new path of men’s grooming at Delmar College is going to be taught by Alison Confrey. Here is her story!

By: Alison Confrey

Hi! I am Alison, Delmar’s first 1400 hour Barbering/Hairstylist instructor. ‘To barber or not to barber?’ That was the question facing me in 2014 when I was offered a position as a Barber in the Downtown Core. Not a very difficult question you say!

However, I was living just outside Dublin, Ireland at the time so it was a huge one for me! I am Irish through and through and had never considered living outside of Ireland. So, the challenge of moving to a new country was a major decision for me and my family. This also meant leaving behind everything I knew about ladies hairstyling and moving into the world of barbering which was an even scarier decision at the time. In my 25 years as a busy stylist, I also taught apprentices and managed salons. However, barbering to me consisted of older men going to older barbers for their ‘short back and sides, please’!

My family decided to ‘bite the bullet’ and move to Calgary arriving in freezing temperatures we had never seen before! It wasn’t long before I started work and to say that I was nervous is a huge understatement! However, looking back, it was the BEST decision I ever made!

Some of Alison’s work

Wow! I was shocked at how much the men’s grooming industry is booming here. It is so much more than the ‘short sides and back’ I was anticipating! Being in the downtown core, surrounded by oil companies, banks and law offices, has proven to me how much guys are into how they look and how their look is perceived by others. They are completely up-to-date and focused on men’s trends which is incredible! All my fears were ‘quashed’ and it is exciting to work with colleagues who are vibrant, fashion-forward go-getters!

Some of Alison’s work

Being a barber is such a fun, creative and exciting career and I encourage you to get involved! Coupling this with learning new skills like hot shaves and hair tattooing has made me decide to be part of Delmar’s new program. It is so exciting!

Delmar has put together a totally new program combining everything you will need to enter into the wonderful world of barbering including all haircutting (both scissor and clipper), fades, hair tattooing, hot shaves, facial massage, facial hair design and much more!!!! Your major will be in Barbering and you will be able to join any barbershop with confidence in your skills! You will also get a solid grounding in all the techniques required to pass your government licensing exams necessary to become a Licensed Hairstylist.

Delmar’s First Barbering/Stylist class!

We are very excited to begin this new journey which is a HUGE step forward in the industry! Follow our progress through the program!

Thank you to everyone who made August such a great month at Delmar College! Here is a recap of what we got up to…

Morgan Calvert wrote a third installment to the Diary of a Hair student blog journal. She has been keeping us up to date on how her class is progressing through the 1400 hour Hair Design program. Click here to read her last entry, and stay tuned, because next week we will be publishing her fourth entry.

Lainnee Simpson was our Delmar Ambassador for the month of August. Click here to read her blog post. Thank you Lainnee for being such a great ambassador of our college!

Sarah Haji completed our Masters of Esthetics diploma. She is the first and we could not be any prouder of her accomplishments. She also represented Delmar at the Skills Alberta competition and went on to become a member of Team Alberta and competed at Skills Canada last spring. Click here to learn more.

We welcomed some guest speakers as well.

Thank you to Jason Olandesca of GLOW M+D Clinics for spending the day with our Clinical Esthetics students. We learned so much about the medical side of the beauty business.

Thank you to Coy of Coy Hair for coming in and educating our hair students on the UNITE hair care line. We loved having you and look forward to seeing you again soon.

Delmar Nail Technology alumni Ria Parsbey wrote a blog post for us about what life was like after graduation and how she has built a successful business. Click here to read her post.

Aaron Knox joined our Makeup Department. Aaron brings a ton of talent to the team and will be teaching our revamped Makeup 103 and 104 programs. Click here to read more about him.

Aaron will also be hosting our Halloween Haunt workshop at the end of September. Call us at (403) 264-8055 for details.

We shared some amazing images from some of our past student photo shoots. Scroll down to check them all out.

Hair: Meghan Roberts / Model: Taylor Wood

Hair: Mitra Grondin / Model: Airelle Rogado / Photo: Brandon Shaw

Hair: Jade Isaak / Model: Laura Phaneuf / Photo: Brandon Shaw

Hair: Cheril Lim / Model: Alejandrina / Photo: Brandon Shaw

Hair Design student Brianna with her model. Photo: Brandon Shaw

Now accepting future barbers. Have you always wanted to specialize in men’s grooming? Delmar College is proud to announce that your dreams can now become your reality. Our 1400 hour, licensed and accredited, Barber & Hairstyling program is ready to launch and become the first of its kind in Alberta. Class starts in October. Limited seats available. Call us at (403) 264-8055 for details. Student aid options available. Click here for more information.

Delmar College also hit the road and went to Edmonton to take part in the Skills Canada Alberta Provincial competition. Esthetics student, and Clinical Esthetics grad, Sarah Haji represented us and won a gold medal and a spot on Team Alberta. Congratulations Sarah!

We caught up with Esthetics alumni, and past student of the month, Lindsey Wilkinson. If you missed her blog post click here and find out what she has been up to in the beauty industry.

Speaking of our Esthetics Department, we made a HUGE announcement about our new campus and future wellness centre. Click here to read all about it.

Our Clinical Esthetics class welcomed guest speaker, Jason Olandesca, from Glow M+D Clinics and Lipps and Sass. He educated us in the world of cosmetic injectables. Thanks Jason!

Our Evening Esthetics student welcomed two guest speakers on their “Ask a Spa Owner” night. Thank you to Roxane Klein from Tree of Life Natural Health, and Mara Nagy from Angles Signal Hill and Curious Aesthetics Aspen, for coming in and spending an evening with our students!

Our March Hair Design students welcomed Joico educator Jodi as a guest educator. Thank you Jodi!

Thank you to Wella educator, Sasha for coming in and doing an intro to colour workshop with our March class and Apprenticeship class!

We also saw tons of amazing talented work from our students. Here are some of the images that we featured…

Wow. Speechless. To start this off I should probably thank my instructors Rae and Christy, because without them I wouldn’t be where I am in the program at this point. Rae’s talent in the classroom keeps my thirst for knowledge strong and it never feels like a “lesson” when I am in her class. Christy’s guidance and constant encouragement in the spa makes the challenging part of my day all worth it. A round of applause for the Director, Linda, who went above and beyond during our first meeting and made me really excited to go back to school.

Accepting my award for Student of the Month from Audrey. I got a BT-Sonic device!

Last year around this time I was comfortable. I had kept a job I didn’t mind for more than a year! I had just bought my first home! I was looking forward to a vacation getaway for my 28th birthday! All was good in my hood. Then things took a turn for the worse. My mother’s cancer had spread and she was admitted to a hospice. My days were then spent caring for her and making sure she was comfortable. To say the least, it was a challenging time for my family and I. I’m not sure where I would be if it weren’t for my support system during this time.

My class is a great team. Here we are working on each other. We each have to try every service that we learn. It’s been great because you really understand the treatment from the perspective of a client AND a provider.

I had been toying around with the idea of going back to school for a while before I made the decision to take an esthetics course. I had passion for the industry but after working the retail side for so long I wasn’t sure which direction to take. I was apprehensive when I first started my research on local schools, to be truthful, I wasn’t convinced it was for me. After some encouragement I decided to book a single tour at Delmar with Linda, I mean, what’s the worst that could happen?

For my Creative Makeup project I took inspiration from Surrealism and Frida Kahlo, an artist that I love and admire

Fast forward a few months. I had just left Delmar after my meeting with Linda! I texted my partner and my grandmother and let them know that I just had one of the best meetings of my life! My excitement couldn’t be contained and I could barely believe that I was going back to school that November. Linda knocked me out that day. Her passion for the industry was evident and her program seemed like a great fit. She ignited something in me and I immediately starting counting down the days until my program was to start.

This is from our Industry Scavenger Hunt, when I was still a junior. My partner for the project was senior student, Jamie Osaka. We won and, more importantly, we had so much fun!

We’re going to fast forward again. I’m now nearly at the end of the professional esthetics program and I can’t believe how quickly time flew by. I think time passed by so quickly because I found where I’m meant to be. Tuesday throughFridayfeels like a break from Saturdays and Mondays (when I force myself to go to work). I look forward to my mornings in the classroom with Raelyn, where I get to hone my theoretical skills. I spend my afternoons with Christy in the spa, where I develop my practical skills. Surprisingly none of this feels like a burden. I’ll admit it’s hard, it’sreallyhard, I was afraid the first time I took a client. I’m happy to say that I survived, I got over it, took my own temperature and did my best.

One of my first pedicures

The future looks bright. I’m not exactly sure where I am going and that’s okay. I hope to take the clinical program when my course is through (…I’ve really loved doing facials, especially advanced). My dream is to own my own spa and be an educator. With all I’ve learned at Delmar, I don’t doubt this is possible.

One of my first manicures

This is a quote that was shown in video form during theory that really hit me.

“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.”

Ira Glass

If you’re reading this and you yourself are toying with the idea of taking this course: just do it.

Our students were BUSY. On the floor, in the classroom, with clients, and in all departments, it was non-stop.

We started and ended the month with a men’s hair cutting workshop for some of our classes. Our students cut the hair of almost 100 men between those two days. It was great practice for them all and we also want to thank all of the guys that came down and helped support a student. You guys rock!

Speaking of rock, we had another successful student photo shoot with the amazing Brandon Shaw from Analog Dog Creative. Here’s a few shots to give you a taste. Professional images to come soon.

We would also like to send out a huge thank you to our staff and students that participated in the Kids Cancer Care Shave Your Lid for a Kid event at Samuel W Shaw school. $16,000.00 was raised!

Some of our students also participated behind the scenes at the Miss Teen Calgary pageant. Thank you to all of you who helped out!

We announced another Student of the Month. Congratulations to Ayman! If you missed our blog post about him click here and check it out.

We also checked in with our Evening Esthetics class again. This post was by Teneika Dennie. Click here to read her story.

And we saw a ton of amazing student work. This is just a sample of the talent that we get to witness every day at the college.

We are so excited for March! We will welcome lots of new classes and mid month there will be a very exciting announcement, so stay tuned…

Have you ever thought about going back to school to learn a new skill or start a new career, only to find that the program hours and the weekly commitment would be too much? Maybe you looked into some evening classes through a continuing education department, only to find that funding was never an option.

We hear stories like this all of the time. In response we have developed a variety of programs that can be taken in the evenings and weekends.

Eyelash Extensions, and all of our Makeup modules can also be taken in the evening, but are currently not eligible for student aid funding because they are shorter programs.

Makeup 101 students

Are you unsure of what program may suit you? We are here to help you with program placement, payment options, and funding applications. Click here to go to our admissions page.

Esthetics graduate Lindsey practicing microcurrent

Delmar College has been creating successful grads since 1950. We have seen a lot change over the past 67 years, and we have changed along with it. The advent of full time programs offered in a non-traditional format is just one example.

Happy graduates!

So don’t let your day job get in the way of making the career change you have been looking for. Check out our website www.delmarcollege.com or call us at (403) 264-8055 to schedule an appointment with an admissions advisor today.

With new classes come some goodbye’s. We had some of our classes graduate in November and December, but most recently we saw our September Clinical Esthetics class graduate. We wish you all the success in the world ladies!

Our Evening Esthetics class gave us a glimpse into their world in the latest edition of their monthly blog takeover. This time we heard from Lacy, and if you missed it just click here and check it out.

We were so proud to award Nail Technology and Hair Design student Alejandrina with the school wide Student of the Month award for January. She is amazing, and if you haven’t read her blog post yet you definitely should. Click here to check it out.

We also handed out some other awards. Congratulations to Bailey! She won our holiday gift card competition and takes home a new trolley.

We saw some awesome student work from all of our departments. Here are some highlights of that awesome work. Thank you to our students who worked so hard to create all this work, and thank you to Brandon from Analog Dog Creative for the professional images.

We featured Kylie Lebedeff, our December student of the month. You can read our post, featuring her, by clicking here.

Our evening Esthetics class started something new. They will each be documenting their progression through the program, and will take turns doing a monthly blog post, journaling their experiences. December’s post was by Kathy. Click here to check it out and stay tuned for this month’s post, coming soon.

We welcomed guest speaker, Lisa, from SkinCeuticals. She did a chemical peel workshop with our Clinical Esthetics students.